So in 1995, when “Frère et Soeur,’’ an 1887 canvas of a young girl carrying her baby brother, came up for sale at a Christie’s auction in New York, she bought it for $178,500. It wasn’t all she purchased at that sale. Ms. Moore also snapped up a painting by the Belgian artist Alfred Stevens, from 1883, called “Mère et Ses Enfants,’’ for $200,500.

Moore may want to be seen as a market savant but there’s no getting around that the 19th Century market seems to be narrowing around some high value works. The rest of Sotheby’s sale of 82 works has 8 works estimated over $1 million for a total estimate at between $20 and $30 million.